1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of toilets, and more specifically, to a toilet that flushes automatically when the toilet seat cover is closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A number of automatically flushing toilets have been patented, but none of these inventions possesses the unique structural features of the present invention, as described more fully below. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 385,823 (Paradice, 1888), U.S. Pat. No. 638,888 (Schlieder, 2899), U.S. Pat. No. 1,048,867 (Payne, 1912), U.S. Pat. No. 2,164,503 (Desroche, 1939), U.S. Pat. No. 2,628,363 (Stein, 1953) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,745 (Aguero, 1982) all relate to toilets that flush when weight is lifted from the toilet seat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,653 (Tsai, 1994) discloses a transceiver-operated toilet that flushes when the user leaves the toilet seat and stands up.
U.S. Pat. No. 657,278 (Barton, 1900), U.S. Pat. No. 1,277,275 (Vogel, 1928), U.S. Pat. No. 1,446,773 (Sweeney, 1923), U.S. Pat. No. 1,595,741 (Sweeney, 1926), U.S. Pat. No. 1,605,939 (Haas, 1926), U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,558 (Lewis, 1929), U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,678 (Landis, 1942), U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,384 (Rivelle, 1973) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,818 (Tsai, 1993) all involve toilets that flush when the seat is raised.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,200,687 (Bercot, 1940) discloses a motor-operated toilet that automatically flushes when the seat or seat cover is closed. U.S. Pat. No. 2,428,685 (Shepard, 1947) provides a toilet that flushes upon lowering of the toilet seat cover. In the latter invention, the cover is biased to its closed position by counterweight means and a rack and pinion interconnecting the seat and cover for moving the seat forward when the cover is raised and for holding the cover in a raised position when the seat is occupied.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,703 (Mocilnikar et al., 1994) also discloses a toilet that flushes automatically when the toilet lid is closed. The toilet lid comprises a toothed sprocket that engages with a first sleeve that is rotatably mounted on the hinge bar and has teeth arranged annularly at one end for engaging the toothed sprocket. Rotation of the lid causes the first sleeve to rotate about a horizontal hinge bar, thereby causing a second sleeve to slide along the hinge bar in linear motion to pull a flexible cable that actuates the flushing mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,446 (Bloemer et al., 1995) describes a toilet that flushes automatically when the toilet seat cover is closed. The latter invention operates by means of a magnet, sensor and batter-powered motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,766 (Schumacher, 1995) provides another toilet that flushes automatically when the toilet seat cover is closed. This invention is mechanically operated and comprises an actuating lever pivotally mounted about a first fulcrum, a tripping lever pivotally mounted about a second fulcrum, a first link connecting the actuating lever to a flapper valve, a second link connecting the actuating lever to the tripping lever, and a tripping mechanism for pivoting the tripping lever about the second fulcrum and releasing the tripping lever when the toilet seat cover is moved to a closed position.
U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2007/0044216 (Cosby) discloses a toilet that flushes automatically when the toilet seat is lowered. In operation, depression of a seat lifting pedal causes a lifting rod to push the seat to a vertical position from a horizontal position. When pressure is removed from the seat lifting pedal, the seat returns to a horizontal position, and a rod engages a flush arm, thereby activating the flushing mechanism.
As the above discussion makes clear, the majority of automatically flushing toilets flush either when the user leaves the toilet seat or when the toilet seat is raised. The present invention flushes automatically when the toilet seat and lid are closed. In one embodiment, there is no toilet flush handle, which means that the user must manually close the toilet seat and lid in order to flush the toilet. In an alternate embodiment, there is a toilet flush handle, and the toilet is flushed either when the user depresses the toilet flush handle or when the toilet seat and lid are closed. Unlike Bercot and Bloemer, discussed above, the present invention is mechanically operated and does not involve the use of a motor.
The mechanism by which the present invention operates is very different than the mechanisms described in Shepard, Mocilnikar et al., Schumacher and Cosby, discussed above. As described and illustrated herein, the present invention is superior to these designs by virtue of its simplicity of design and ease of manufacture.